Sunsets and Constellations | B X B

• T W E N T Y S E V E N •

A R I U S

Arius's fingers were splayed across the grand piano, frantically trying to match the tempo of Harrison's voice. They were practicing for the year end show, Hamilton and Arius was the assigned Piano player for the ensemble.
Usually quite deft and effortless, today he was struggling with the most easy parts of the song.
Riya shot him a look from the seat she was in, raising her eyebrows and throwing her hands up. Their theater teacher, Mr.Newman held his hand up, signalling for Harrison to stop.

"I think we'll take a short break, Johnson seems to be having a rough day today." He said, which sent all the students scrambling off the stage, breaking up into tiny groups, some heading out for a snack.
Arius sighed and pulled the fall down, resting his head against it.

He'd been fidgety and restless the whole day, and scared, more than anything.
He had kissed Elijah again.
HE had initiated it.
Well, it was obvious that Elijah was into him, and Arius felt guilty. He felt like he was leading him on without giving him much to fall back on.

But he was scared, and this was the part he hadn't understood. A split second was enough to shatter his confidence regarding anything he thought he knew about his feelings for the blonde boy.
Last night, when he'd kissed him, Arius had felt things that he thought he'd never feel again. Things he hadn't felt in a long, long time.
Warmth.
Hope for something he didn't even know he needed had lifted and made him feel giddy inside.
All of that had come crashing down on him like a trainwreck the following morning. Surely, he was overanalysing things. Just the thought of seeing Elijah in math class that day had made him nervous. He had bunked all the classes he shared with Elijah and had an early lunch.

When he was around Elijah, he smiled more than he usually did, and there was no doubt that he was attracted to him. But they were treading on dangerous territory, feelings and affection and what not?
Arius couldn't put someone through that, no. This, whatever this was, had to stop.

He sat up straight, only to see the boy responsible for his erratic behaviour walking toward him with a paper cup in his hand, scrolling through his phone. Arius groaned in frustration at the sight.

"I haven't seen you all day! Where have you been?" Elijah questioned him looking heavily concerned, all while still smiling.

That damned smile. Fuck.

"I've been here, felt like I had too much music to get out of my system today." Arius lied through his teeth.

"Someday, I'm going to make you play your original pieces for me." Elijah let out a short laugh, making Arius smile automatically.

"You wish, I'm never doing that!"

"We'll see, I'm very persuasive. Also, this one's for you, they only had the medium sized cups today." Elijah handed him the paper cup which was still warm.

Arius blushed slightly when he realised that Elijah had brought him hot chocolate from the dining hall.

"Are you alright? You look quite under the weather today." Elijah muttered, stepping forward and pressing the back of his palm to Arius's forehead.

"You're turning red Arius!" He whisper-shouted, looking alarmed.

"No, no I'm fine. I'm just tired." Arius blurted out, ripping his face away from the other boy's gentle grip when all he wanted was to be held like nothing mattered anymore which was how Elijah's touch made him feel.